Some Problems in Therapeutic Group Encounter Experiences with Indigenous Staff.

In agencies connected with the "War on Poverty" programs, middle class professional people are working with an indigenous staff. Special problems have arisen in the staff relations of such agencies and therapeutic group encounter experiences have not been effective in remedying the situation. The factors which appear to differentiate this particular type of group setting from the more traditional relations of the middle class include: (1) fear of failure in a well-paying high status job, (2) a different set of values and concerns, (3) a lower class orientation toward action and immediacy as opposed to the middle class verbal and introspective orientation, (4) the idea that only "crazy" people talk to psychologists, (6) lack of respect for the confidentiality of a therapeutic group encounter, (7) the problem of race, especially when the group leader is white, and (8) problems of getting all the working staff to participate. (PS)